Academics

Shawn Christian

Associate Professor of English, African American, and American Studies

Associate Provost

Primarily a scholar of African American literature and culture, my specific research areas are the Harlem Renaissance, African American print culture, and (increasingly) the literature of the long Civil Rights Movement. I also teach a range of courses for the English department as well as American Studies, African, African American, and Diaspora Studies, and Women and Gender Studies. Complementing my work as a former actor and occasional director, I have participated in "post-play" discussions at Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, RI and currently serve on the board of directors for the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities.

Degrees

Ph.D., University of Michigan
M.A., Temple University
B.A., Florida State University

Main Interests

Although a good portion of academic year 2013-2014 for me was devoted to serving on the search committee for the College's eighth president, I did find time to further work on some important projects. I'm co-editing, with my colleague Fran Lassiter, a journal feature entitled, "Encounter Tradition, Make It New: Essays on New Approaches for Teaching the Harlem Renaissance." In the fall, I also presented related work on the Harlem Renaissance at the annual meeting of the History of Education Society and at "The Return of the Text: A Conference on the Cultural Value of Close Reading." This spring, I presented on Toni Morrison's novel _Home_ at the American Literature Association conference. This summer, I'm transitioning into my new role as an Associate Provost.

Research Interests

"The (New?) 'Rap on Race': Historicizing Calls for Racial Dialogue in the Early Years of Barak Obama's Presidency" in Reading African American Experiences in the Obama Era: Theory, Advocacy, Activism (New York: Peter Lang, 2012).

"Between Black Gay Men: Artistic Collaboration and the Harlem Renaissance in Brother to Brother" in The Harlem Renaissance Revisited: Politics, Arts and Letters (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010).

Review, Founding Fictions of the Dutch Caribbean: Cola Debrot's "My Black Sister" and Boeli van Leeuwen's A Stranger on Earth, translated by Olga E. Roger and Joesph O. Aimone, Wadabagei: A Journal of the Caribbean and Its Diasporas v11.2 (2008).

Review, They Tell Me of a Home, College Language Association Journal (March 2008).

Teaching Interests

20th century American literature, its criticism, and its histories:

English 401 Senior Seminar, "Collaborations in 20th Century African American Literature and Culture" (fall 2006); "Harlem Renaissance as a Usable Past" (fall 2007).